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Making McNairy County headlines for more than 111 years
Volume 111, Number 13, Wednesday, August 14, 2013
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Young mother dies in accident last Thursday Inside this week By Jeff Whitten Head News Writer
Heaven Stewart, 19, of Selmer died in an automobile accident in Bethel Springs last Thursday. She and her two-year-old son were passengers in a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Vickie Hurst, 52, of Bethel Springs, according to a Tennessee Motor Vehicle Fatality Report by Sgt. Larry Forsythe and provided by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. The toddler, who was securely strapped in his car seat, was uninjured but the other driver, Kevin Austin, 27, of Selmer was injured. Austin was driving a 2000 Dodge Neon eastbound on Rowsey School Road. Hurst was driving in the opposite direction when her vehicle crossed into the path of the Neon on the crest of a hill and struck it. Hurst, who was wearing her seatbelt, was uninjured. Neither Stewart nor Austin were wearing seatbelts.
new meters better service The Selmer Utility Division sees results from upgrade PAGE 3A
Staff Photo by Jeff Whitten
Selmer resident Heaven Stewart died in a head-on collision on Rowsey School Road last Thursday.
Commission re-examines wheel tax By Jeff Whitten Head News Writer
Travel the trace
Perfect side trip for McNairy County PAGE 1B
The county commission voted at its meeting last Monday to ask the budget committee to compile and present a wheel tax proposal, which the full commission would then vote on whether to put it on the ballot in the 2014 election. Commissioner Wilburn Gene Ashe who has opposed the tax said, “I think this body would support it (putting the proposal on the ballot).” “This does not mean we are for a wheel tax,” said Commissioner Billy Brown. “I think we need an open dialogue. It's (the county's needs that the tax would address) not going to go away,” Commissioner Jeff Lipford said.
“Let the citizens vote for it,” said Commissioner Stevie Clark. A couple of members of the audience were not favorably disposed towards the tax. “This body is supposed to be trying to save money rather than spending money. You need to think twice before you put a tax on people. People are taxed to death,” one said. “We don't want a new school. We want to fix the ones we got,” said another. Previous wheel tax proposals have included money to pay for new schools in Selmer and Adamsville. In other news from the meeting, the commission voted to spend $6,500 on medevac services for everyone in the county from
either a hospital or wreck site that will be provided by Hospital Wing. The commission also voted to allow the sheriff's department to use county property now controlled by the Solid Waste Management Department near the airport for a shooting range. In the road committee report, Chairman David McCullar revealed that a new bridge that was built on Falcon Road is ready for inspection. The commission also approved a resolution supporting the Second Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. This amendment protects the right to bear arms. The commission approved a resolution supporting a national day of action against texting and driving.
Thieves steal from the dead By Christen Coulon Managing Editor
Desperate McNairy County thieves have recently resorted to stealing from the dead. In the most recent case, criminals stole from grave sites at the Lake Hill Memorial Gardens. According to a McNairy County Sheriff’s Department Incident Report, the owner of the cemetery, Vickie Rowland, reported that her son, Daniel Rabber, spotted five bronze vases missing while he was doing maintenance. He said that they were last seen a week prior when he mowed the property. The names on the grave sites were William Jasper Long, Earnest and Dixie Holt, Leroy Fulghum, Mary Pearl Smith and Harry and Virginia Hickman. This case closely resembles another local case in which two McNairy County men, were arrested in connection with the theft of brass vases from a Chester County cemetery. In that case, a local scrap metal dealer and authorities from both counties helped to foil the thefts.
Bethel beer ordinance rewritten By Jeff Whitten Head News Writer
The Bethel Springs Beer Board, composed of the mayor and aldermen, repassed their beer ordinance at its Aug. 6 meeting. This was done on the advice of the Municipal Technical Advisory Service, which advised the town the ordinance had become confusing because amendments had not been properly incorporated in the text. The substance of the ordinance is the same as the previous one but was just rewritten, according to City Clerk Deborah Sullivan. The ordinance prohibits selling beer within 100 feet of a school or church when it would interfere with either establishments’ business, when it would cause traffic congestion or would otherwise interfere with the public health, safety or morals. The ordinance prohibits the sale of beer from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. on weekdays and from 12 a.m. until 12 p.m. on Sunday. A quorum, or a majority of the board, must be present and a majority of board members who are present must approve any action. Any member present but not voting will be deemed a no vote. The board was unable to vote on the second reading of an application for a beer permit by Gary Bizzell Sr. due to lack of a voting quorum. The first reading of the application had been approved in an earlier meeting, but the second vote had been delayed due to problems with the ordinance. Only three members of the board were present: Mayor Kay Cox, Aldermen John Wood and Gary Bizzel Jr. Bizzell Jr. was unable to vote because he is Bizzell Sr.’s son. Bizzell Jr. said during the working session that was held prior to the beer board meeting that the town had already collected $5,000 in beer tax in the last two months, twice that of the same period last year. The town collected only $16,000 in beer tax in the previous year.
Imagination library
Group prepares for annual tea party for children PAGE 4A
treats from local farms
r e Blea wsuit g n i w e r b l e in Inaction prompts lawsuit threat th e Bings? Spr By Christen Coulon Managing Editor
Tips, recipes and history for Tennessee Farmers’ Markets PAGE 4B
Mayor Kay Cox opened the Bethel Springs Board of Aldermen meeting last Monday declaring, “There will be no more awards for (news) coverage of Bethel’s meetings.” The mayor explained that they were taking steps to prevent audience outbursts, which would leave little to report about future meetings.
Her prediction held true, for the most part, as the board navigated a fairly large work load with few interruptions in just over two hours. However, tensions foamed up at a late-night beer board meeting as Gary Bizzell Sr. (father of Alderman Gary Bizzell Jr.) threatened a lawsuit against the town and the individual beer board members as his application for a beer li-
See Beer lawsuit, 3A
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